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| Cruella da Ville on the Orient-Express |
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Mystery and Intrigue
The Orient-Express has always been involved in mystery and intrigue, both fictional and real. Most famous of all is Agatha Christie's novel 'Murder on the Orient-Express' in which her detective Hercule Poirot investigates the murder of a passenger. The Hollywood movie, starring Albert Finney as Mr Poirot, was partly filmed aboard the train and in replica carriages in a studio.
As a star of six motion pictures the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express most recently helped Cruella da Ville make her escape to Paris in 102 Dalmations. |
There have been a total of 19 books written about the train and even a piece of music entitled 'Orient-Express Variations' has been written.
In reality the various carriages of the Orient-Express have been the scenes of history and intrigue - Sleeping Car 3425 was a part of the Orient-Express service used by King Carol of Romania. Whilst His Majesty King Boris III of Bulgaria, a keen railway enthusiast, used to take to the footplate and drive the train himself.
Sleeping Car 3309 was part of the service, which in 1929 was stuck in a snow drift for 10 days, sixty miles outside Istanbul, along with a full complement of passengers who survived only with the assistance of nearby Turkish villagers. Some Orient-Express carriages also saw active service during the Second World War, either because they were taken over by the German Army or were being used by the US Transportation Corps. |
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